Ferdinand Strudelfeld, rather bumbling and overweight, affectionately known to his friends as Fatty, is rehearsing his role as Mephistopheles in Marlowe""s play ‘Dr. Faustus"" when he trips and falls through a trapdoor in the basement. There, to his shock, he encounters none other than the REAL Mephistopheles. Mephisto has been sent into solitary confinement in the basement by Lucifer for a major infernal misdemeanor. Unable to go himself, Mephisto urgently needs someone else to go back to the past to finish the task without Lucifer knowing. When he finds out that Fatty is playing him in the play, Mephisto proposes a deal. He will send Fatty back into the past for an urgent meeting with French Romantic composer Hector Berlioz. While he is gone, Mephisto will stand in for Fatty during the rehearsals, and dial him back in time for the play. But forgetting the time machine code, Mephisto sends Fatty back into the wrong year, 1830 instead of 1846, and causes mayhem in the rehearsals. This...